1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device and an image processing method and, in more detail, to an image processing device and an image processing method in which predetermined additional information (code image) is superimposed on image information.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists a document on which a color (for example, cyan) code image (image of encoded additional information, such as specification of user disallowed or allowed to copy, and a function used in copying) is printed.
There also exists a reader (scanner etc.) capable of scanning with both the black-and-white scan mode and the color scan mode. In the black-and-white scan mode, light reflected from a document is received by a black-and-white sensor and black-and-white image information is transmitted to a controller and in the color scan mode, light reflected from a document is received by a color sensor and color image information is transmitted to the controller.
Compared to the color scan mode, the black-and-white scan mode has a drawback that color image information cannot be obtained even if a document is a color one.
On the other hand, compared to the black-and-white scan mode, the color scan mode has a drawback that there is a possibility that information of black on a document cannot be obtained accurately. For example, the information of black on a document may be recognized as “bluish black”, “reddish black”, or “greenish black”. For example, a color sensor that receives reflected light by R, G, and B sensors, respectively, recognizes black as “bluish black”, “reddish black”, or “greenish black” when one amount of reflected light of the amount of reflected light R, the amount of reflected light G, and the amount of reflected light B deviates slightly.
As described above, the black-and-white scan mode has an advantage compared to the color scan mode while having the drawback.
Although the black-and-white scan mode has such an advantage, there is a problem as follows when the above-mentioned document is scanned (that is, light reflected from the document on which a color code image is printed is received by a black-and-white sensor and transmitted to a controller). That is, there is a problem that the possibility is high that the color code image printed on the above-mentioned document cannot be analyzed within the controller.
The reason for that is explained below.
First, because a color is paler than black, the black-and-white sensor will receive weak reflected light from a color code image. As a result, the analyzing component in the controller will receive information about a pale black-and-white code image representative of the color code image.
Further, it is impossible for the analyzing component within the controller to analyze the pale code image information. Consequently, when the above-mentioned document is scanned in the black-and-white scan mode, there is a problem that the possibility is high that the color code image printed on the above-mentioned document cannot be analyzed within the controller.